India matching China’s troop build-up at disputed border, army chief says

General Manoj Mukund Naravane said China is sending troops to the 3,500km border in ‘considerable numbers’ and it was a ‘matter of concern’

His comments came days after China’s foreign ministry accused Indian soldiers of illegally crossing the border into Chinese territory

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An Indian army convoy carrying reinforcements and supplies travels through a high mountain pass in Ladakh, bordering China. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Published: 5:51pm, 3 Oct 2021

India’s army chief has said China is sending troops to their disputed border in “considerable numbers”, prompting a matching deployment by New Delhi in a development he called a “concern”.

Tensions have been high between the nuclear-armed neighbours following a deadly border battle in June last year in the strategically important Galwan river valley in India’s Ladakh region, near Tibet.

The world’s two most populous nations poured tens of thousands of extra troops into the high-altitude region in the Himalayas after the clash.

India’s Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane. Photo: Hindustan Times via Getty Images

General Manoj Mukund Naravane told reporters in Ladakh on Saturday that the Chinese troop presence along the 3,500km (2,200-mile) border had increased in “considerable numbers” and it was a “matter of concern”.

Naravane said the Indian military was building up its forces along the border in response.

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